


Poison in my Veins

by SageMcMae



Series: Sage's Reylo Oneshots [18]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Bendemption, Canon Compliant, Dark Rey (Star Wars), Devoted Reylo, F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings, Force Bond (Star Wars), Loss of Virginity, Post TLJ, Snow White Elements, TIE Fighter Jump, TLJ Parallels, tros speculation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-27
Updated: 2019-10-27
Packaged: 2020-10-18 17:48:56
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20643215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SageMcMae/pseuds/SageMcMae
Summary: “You should have come with me,” she argued.“You should have stayed,” he insisted stubbornly.She pivoted around, glaring at him. “They needed me.”His eyes narrowed and she saw his rebuttal. He didn’t need to speak the words out loud.I needed you.With a sigh, she turned back to the path and continued the climb up the mountainside. Her thoughts were carefully concealed but he made no such attempts to veil his own.I still do.





	Poison in my Veins

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bunilicious](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bunilicious/gifts).

> Thanks to my beta, [@reysexualkylo](http://reysexualkylo.tumblr.com/)!

The Dark Side swarmed around Palpatine. Shadows cloaked him, hiding his decaying form just as the barren planet hid the remains of the Death Star. Waves crashed against the side of the once-great space station, a constant chorus, reminding him of the passing years since he’d served in the Senate.

Each day, he felt a surge of the dark power in his veins and, each day, he asked it the same question.

“Who holds the most power in the galaxy?”

For years the answer was the same.

_ You. _

Until news of another reached across the stars. A child, born of both Light and Dark, Vader’s heir and only grandchild was expected to be delivered in Chandrila. 

Palpatine seethed in his dark hollow. This child — this _ baby _ — served no threat to him. Yet, each day, as the child grew in his mother’s womb, the answer remained unchanged. 

Ben Solo was destined to fulfill his grandfather’s legacy.

Palpatine sought to alter that destiny.

He dispatched his apprentice, Snoke, a humanoid alien whose hatred for the Jedi was surpassed only by Palpatine’s own. 

Snoke was a master manipulator and Palpatine understood the strength of a subtle suggestion. Doubt, anger, and, above all, fear worked better than any poison. It was fear that caused Anakin Skywalker to fall. It would be fear that brought about the end of the New Republic by the hands of their heir. 

And once the last of the Light was extinguished, Darkness would reign.

Snoke began his manipulations early, before the child took his first breath, surrounding the baby in Dark energy while he still slumbered in his mother’s womb.

Born at the rise of the Resistance, the child was bathed in Light. But the effects of Snoke’s influence were evident. The baby was born with alabaster skin as smooth as the marble palace of Naboo, eyes deep and pensive like the wisdom of the former Council, and hair blacker than the endless void of the Unknown Reaches. The announcement of his birth caused a cheer of hope across the stars. A new prince for a new galaxy.

As the boy grew, Snoke’s interjections played off his developing fears. His parents, acclaimed war heroes and respected members of society, rarely spent time with the prince, resulting in feelings of abandonment and resentment. It was all too easy for Snoke to whisper in his mind, planting the Dark seeds that would grow to snuff out the Light.

Palpatine cackled from the shadows of the Death Star. Everything was as he had foreseen. Soon he would be at a seat of power once more. All he had to do was wait for the inevitable fall.

* * *

It began when the prince surpassed his fifteenth name day. Snoke’s manipulation had long since taken root in Ben Solo’s heart. His parents cast him out, relinquishing their responsibilities and leaving his uncle to raise him. Their betrayal sent him spiraling.

_ They fear you. They fear what you could be_, Snoke told the boy.

As the days passed, Ben Solo grew stronger with the Force, unrivaled in his abilities. Palpatine preened with pleasure. Any success the prince achieved only aided him in his quest to see Darth Vader’s heir fall. 

Several years later, Snoke’s manipulation came into full bloom. Despite Skywalker’s best attempts, his nephew fell. The rage Ben Solo had been concealing broke forth in a fit of fury, one so powerful it caused stone walls to crumble and a temple to be reduced to ash.

Palpatine smirked.

Ben Solo died that night, poisoned by the Darkness. In his stead, Kylo Ren was born, a shell of the former prince, whose Light slept on, suppressed by the weight of the Dark Side.

He was joined by the Seven. The group vacated the destroyed Jedi temple, pledging their fidelity to him. He dubbed them the Knights of Ren and they joined him in his service to Snoke. 

The First Order was born from the remnants of the Empire. They sought to bring order to the galaxy, overtaking planet after planet. Red and black flags were raised city by city and the New Republic fell.

Darkness rose.

And Light to meet it. 

Not long after Skywalker escaped into exile, Palpatine asked his question once more.

When the Force answered, it was in the form of a riddle.

_ Nobody. _

The former emperor snarled in displeasure. A powerful being, greater than Ben Solo, greater than Snoke, greater than himself could hardly be called a no one.

“Show me,” he demanded the Darkness. 

There on Jakku, as hapless a planet as Tatooine, was a girl. The orphaned slave was what the Force deemed all-powerful. A nobody.

He dismissed her. There was no opportunity for her to be trained on Jakku. Despite the potential she had, without knowledge of the power she possessed and a teacher, she could never hope to become more.

Then the Scavenger met the Prince.

Palpatine felt her awakening, sensed the conflict in her heart. There was darkness there, a seed of doubt and fear that could be molded into anger and hate, the path of the Dark Side.

Yet, she resisted.

Each time he tempted her with promises of her heritage, with a vow to deliver her family, she pulled back. She broke free of his hold. 

And what was worse was her effect on Kylo Ren.

Palpatine raged when he took up his uncle’s blade and sliced Snoke clean through. His puppet dropped dead, the thud echoing across the cosmos. When Kylo Ren stood, the Light resurfaced, weak, barely a flicker, but it was there.

All because of a nobody.

Just like Anakin. 

Anakin who had feared losing his love so much that he’d given all of himself to keep her safe. Palpatine crowed manically as the answer became clear. He’d remained in hiding long enough.

He set about to end their journey and the Skywalker line.

* * *

Rey could still feel him. Even now, even after attempting to close the bond, she could feel Kylo Ren. His rage, his frustration,—

—his _ despair_.

It was unavoidable. 

And _ distracting_. 

They’d been running for months now, ever since the First Orser discovered their new base on Batuu. Ever since they lost Leia. It wasn’t enough to lose another home — another place of belonging — but she’d also lost the closest thing to a mother she could remember.

Rey closed her eyes, inhaling slowly through her nose to calm her emotions.

She was flanked on all sides by her companions. Her co-pilot was at her back, his grip on his bow caster firm. Finn stood at her right, tense and prepared to comm Rose for backup. At her left was Poe, the General’s second in command, along with her droid, a nervous protocol unit named C-3PO.

The air in the cavern was wrought with tension. Although they’d been summoned to this hidden desert camp, there was an uneasiness in her veins, a prickling of the Force across her skin. It nagged at Rey, a warning around what the native people wanted.

“We found him in the ravine,” Jannah announced.

“Him?” Poe questioned, shifting forward, his finger on his blaster’s trigger.

The second he stepped inside, Rey ignited her saber. Around her, the tension increased. It was so thick she nearly choked.

“_You_,” Finn hissed.

Kylo Ren merely gazed at them, silent and unyielding as if he had every right to be standing before them. As if his men hadn’t destroyed their camp and sent them scattering across the galaxy. As if they hadn’t been the ones to kill Leia.

He blinked as a flicker of remorse passed through his intense eyes and Rey reminded herself to shield her thoughts.

All parties remained frozen as they waited for the opposition to make the first move, but it wasn’t a human who spoke first. It was a droid.

“Master Ben.” C-3PO waddled forward to embrace the Supreme Leader. “How good it is to see you again, sir.”

Everyone in the cavern watched, affronted but also curious as the man cloaked in darkness and leather bent forward to accept a hug from a droid.

“You’ve heard of the news, of course,” C-3PO remarked as he stepped back. “Terrible business but at least you’re safe, Master Ben.”

“I’d like to say goodbye to her.”

It was the first time he’d spoken since he arrived and Rey couldn’t help but note the vulnerability in his tone.

“You don’t get to say anything to her, you bastard,” Poe snarled, aiming his gun for Kylo’s chest.

Before Rey could step in, Chewie was slapping the weapon down. Poe’s attention snapped to the Wookie who roared in Shyriiwook in response. The commander glanced at Rey for a translation. 

“He said he would like a word before you kill me,” Kylo offered.

“I didn’t ask you,” Poe pointed out tersely. 

“If you can’t speak the language, then you should get a translator,” Kylo shot back.

“Enough.” Rey sheathed her lightsaber. “Poe, you and Finn go with Jannah and see what resources we can trade for. Chewie and C-3PO, go check on our new flyer and provide Rose an update,” she directed.

“Where are you going?” Finn asked.

“To the Falcon,” she responded.

“Rey.” He grabbed her arm and she felt the Force surge around Kylo.

“I’ll be fine,” she assured him.

Finn hesitated, his gaze flickering between her and the Supreme Leader before he relented. “Stay safe.”

“I will,” she promised. Then to Kylo, she said, “Let’s go.”

He followed her silently out of the cave. Rey ignored the glares they received as they passed through the camp. The First Order wasn’t a friend to these people but they weren’t pleased with the Resistance either. 

War caused casualties on both sides and for innocent bystanders alike. It was a difficult lesson to learn but Rey had come to accept the fact as she shuffled from planet to planet seeking shelter. As a Jedi, people respected the power she held, thinking her wise despite her young age. They revered her and the Light. It was her title that kept the Resistance safe and allowed them to remain one step ahead of the First Order.

As she led the Supreme Leader through their village, Rey felt terror and uncertainty.

“They have nothing to fear. I’m alone,” Kylo divulged once they were out of earshot.

“So you say,” Rey scoffed.

“I’m no longer the Supreme Leader,” he told her. “General Hux staged a coup and—.”

“I don’t care,” she cut him off.

“Rey—.”

“You should have come with me,” she argued. 

“You should have stayed,” he insisted stubbornly. 

She pivoted around, glaring at him. “They needed me.”

His eyes narrowed and she saw his rebuttal. He didn’t need to speak the words out loud.

_ I needed you. _

With a sigh, she turned back to the path and continued the climb up the mountainside. Her thoughts were carefully concealed but he made no such attempts to veil his own. 

_ I still do. _

* * *

All Rey had left of Leia was her twin jeweled ring. The ornate gold piece was designed with entwining metal and a pair of sapphires. Rey wasn’t sure if the ring was a symbol of Leia’s relationship with her twin brother, a representation of her love for her husband, or a symbol of her dual heritage. Either way, Rey had never seen the General without it.

Until that fateful day.

_ “Take it,” Leia urged her, removing the ring from her right hand and placing it in Rey’s palm. “Keep it with you.” _

_ “I can’t,” Rey told her, shaking her head. _

_ “You can. It belongs to you now. They both do.” _

_ That was the last thing the General ever said to her. A blast from an overhead First Order fighter tore through the ground between them, sending Rey flying backward. She’d struck her head against a tree. When she came too, Rose was hauling her to the Falcon. _

_ “Leia! Where’s Leia?” Rey asked frantically as the ramp came up. _

_ “Hold her down,” Finn instructed his girlfriend. _

_ Rose forced Rey down and then pain erupted at the base of her skull as Finn cleaned her wound. _

Later, Poe would comm them with a list of the casualties. When the remaining Resistance members met on the outskirts of Bespin, they’d pay tribute to the fallen, including their leader. Rey didn’t join them, preferring to stay on the Falcon. 

When Chewie came back that night, she cried into his fur, until she couldn’t stand. She’d woken in the captain’s bunk. He told her that it was hers now. She cried again. 

“I didn’t know,” Kylo’s voice drew her out of her painful memories. She stared at him. “About the attack,” he clarified. “I didn’t know. Hux sent the Seven after me. I heard you were on Batuu and I tried to cloak my ship, but they followed. When I evaded them, they commed the rest of the fleet. By the time I realize what had happened, it was too late.”

“Before this war is over, I will kill him,” Rey vowed.

“No.” She glared at him, hand itching for her saber. “She was my mother,” Kylo stated evenly. “He will die by my hand.” 

“Fine.” 

Her hand fell to her side and she left him to say his farewells.

* * *

It was night when Kylo finally emerged from the hull of his father’s ship.

Rey was toying with the Force, levitating pebbles in front of herself, stacking them before waving her hand to knock them over and starting the process again.

When she felt his stare on her, Rey responded, “Luke told me the Force was about more than lifting rocks.”

“That sounds like something he’d say,” Kylo replied.

He stood there silently, waiting for her to leave her seat on the ground. Rey finished stacking another tower of pebbles. As she raised her had to send them tumbling down, he spoke.

“We need to train.”

“What?” The pebbles skidded across the dirt.

“Hux wishes to capture and execute me. He’ll use all the First Order resources to do it,” Kylo explained. “These people won’t be safe unless we can stop them.”

His concern was unexpected; as was his offer, but she felt him holding back. There was more to the unease in his stance, an unsaid danger that lurked beyond the threat of the First Order.

“What is it?” she asked.

“A Darkness I thought was gone,” he answered.

“Snoke?”

Kylo shook his head. “There are always two,” he informed her. “A master and an apprentice.”

“Snoke was the apprentice,” Rey surmised.

“Merely a puppet,” Kylo confirmed.

“Then who is the master?” she inquired, standing up.

“What have you heard about Darth Sidious?”

* * *

Their training began the next day. With the rise of the suns, two warriors rose from their bunks to prepare.

Ignoring her friend’s protests, Rey journeyed into the desert with Kylo. She didn’t fear he’d hurt her, at least not the way Finn and Poe feared, especially after Chewie took him aside. The Wookie could have ripped his arms off like twigs snapping off a tree branch, yet Kylo remained whole.

“I don’t understand how this will help me in battle,” she quipped as he climbed into his TIE fighter.

“You need to be ready for anything and to do that, you need to know your limits,” Kylo clarified.

“Fine.”

Rey watched him fly off until the fighter craft was no more than a black speck on the horizon. She waited, boots grounded in the dirt while her heart beat steadily in her chest.

For the first time since Crait, she willingly opened the bond. Her lips parted and a pant escaped her. It had been so long, Rey had forgotten how the connection felt. It was dizzying to be able to sense him. She could picture the cockpit clearly in her mind as if she was seeing it through his eyes.

The roar of the TIE cut through the desert morning, screeching like a battle cry. Her blade came to light in her grip, the thrum of the kyber crystal was a response to the ship’s cry. Rey turned on her heels, crouching down to push off, and sprinted forward.

They didn’t need to speak. He could feel her just as she could feel him, connected by the very fibers of their existence. Her muscles tensed, spanning from her thighs down through her calves and finally to her toes. She leapt, arching her back and caught the updraft of the TIE. It propelled her up and over the cockpit.

For a second, time was suspended as her eyes locked on his, another level to their connection. Then she was falling.

Rey hit the sand with a thud, the air knocked from her lungs, and her limbs jarring from impact. Her lightsaber went quiet as it slid across the ground.

“Again,” Kylo demanded.

* * *

Dusk settled in the valley. The dark orange and pink hues of the day’s end bloomed across the sky, a dance of colors to announce the approaching night.

Rey’s body ached from her endless attempts to complete Kylo’s test. Each time she hit the ground, Rey felt the impact twice — once to her body and once to her pride. If the former Supreme Leader was frustrated by her failure, he hid his feelings well.

_ Again. _

Anger — not at him, but at herself — rippled through her. She’d gone up against Snoke and his guards. She’d piloted the Millennium Falcon. She’d fought against and alongside the most powerful man in the galaxy. Why couldn’t she do this?

_ Because you’re still holding on_, Kylo answered through the bond. _ Let go. _

She thought of the last time he’d spoken those words. She had gone to the Supremacy to save him, to awaken Ben Solo, and to bring him back to the Light. Hadn’t Luke warned her about going to him?

_ This is not going to go the way you think! _

He was far more cynical than any Jedi had a right to be. And Ben — _ Kylo _ — was far more compassionate than any Darksider had a right to be.

Neither of them fit into the molds they’d been placed in. Neither of them was truly Dark or Light.

Just like her.

It was as Maz had told her on Takodana. The belonging she sought — the home she’d been searching for — was in front of her.

She somersaulted over the TIE, sweeping her legs down and landing easily on the balls of her feet, lightsaber at the ready. The fighter landed moments later and Ben climbed out. He offered her a hand down.

“Now you understand,” he said as she stood before him.

“I do.”

She searched his eyes, the same eyes she’d stared into across the fire not so long ago, the same eyes that begged her to stay, the same eyes she dreamed of each night since she hadn’t. He saw her intent before she advanced. He didn’t stop her.

The first press of her lips to his was as tentative and soft as the brush of her fingertips across his own. Rey opened her eyes, seeking his approval.

Ben’s arm hand applied pressure to her lower back. He drew her to him. Rey’s eyes fluttered closed.

* * *

It was dark when they burst into her bunk, tearing at each other’s tunics with unmatched fervor. Rey kicked off her boots, overwhelmed by the heat of her skin and desperate to be rid of them.

Ben’s lips found her, desperate and hot against the pulse point on her neck. Rey tangled her fingers in his hair, releasing a breathy sigh as she allowed the sensation of his caress wash over her. She angled her head, permitting him to trail down her neck to her collarbone.

Her breath hitched when he discovered the sensitive flesh of her chest. Her back arched, pressing herself into his touch. His massive hands spanned the bare skin of her backside, keeping her still so he could continue pleasuring her.

Rey hadn’t shared a kiss with anyone before. Now, with Ben bare before her and her before him, she was grateful. There was a beauty in being able to share this moment with him.

Leaning back, she gazed into his eyes. His pupils were so wide she could barely see where they ended and his chocolate irises began. A deeply rooted desire was there, a primal hunger he’d kept under control for far longer than she realized. But beneath it all was something more impactful — the root of all his feelings.

Rey felt it blossom within her, overwhelming all other sensations. Ben watched her, hesitant until she beamed at him. He didn’t have to say anything. She could feel it all.

The bond sung as he laid her down on the bed. Rey couldn’t tear her eyes away from him. For all that they had shared and as intimate as their connection was, she’d never seen him bare before this moment. She’d considered it, of course, especially after Ahch-To, but he defied all expectations.

“Are you going to tell me to put my cowl back on?” he teased, drawing a line up her jaw with his nose before nibbling on her earlobe.

Rey responded by wrapping herself around him and flipping them over. Straddling his thighs, she took him in hand. Ben let out a guttural sound, head tilting back as his eyes fluttered shut.

Her touch was tentative, playful, curious and it set him on fire. She could feel the flames of desire burning in his core, awakening his baser instincts until he snatched her wrist, stopping her motions.

Ben sat up, switching their positions so he could gently nudge her down to rest upon the pillows. She carded her fingers through his hair as he settled between her thighs. His flushed skin went all the way to the tops of his ears and there was a sheen of sweat upon his brow.

He bent down, pressing his lips to hers tenderly, seeking permission. Rey nodded and slid her hands down to his hips, pulling him closer.

With one hand, Ben guided himself to her. Then, with a snap of his hips, he was seated deep within. They both cried out, bodies tensing at the feel.

Ben paused, hovering on his arms above her. Rey traced the scar she’d given him down his face to his chest. When she withdrew her fingertip, he exhaled in one long breath and started to move again.

He set a steady pace, firmly holding onto her hips as he drove deeper and deeper with each thrust. Rey clung to him, burying her face in his neck. She could feel every inch of him pulsing within. A moan escaped her and it caused him to increase his pace.

His hands skimmed up her back, tangling in her hair. Rey felt him undo her buns, tearing out the ties so her chestnut locks hung freely about her face.

Ben stole a kiss. He rolled his hips rhythmically and snaked a hand between them. When he found the spot at the apex of her thighs, Rey saw stars. She keened, falling over the edge. Ben followed with a grunt, his hips stuttering as he worked himself through his release.

They collapsed in a sweaty, blissful heap. Mere seconds later, sleep claimed them.

* * *

With the sunrise came the sirens, a blaring sound of warning that had both Rey and Ben jolting out of bed.

Rey grabbed her comm. “Finn? Finn, what’s happened?”

“Stormtroopers. A whole fleet entered the valley,” he announced.

Rey glanced over at Ben, muting her channel.

“It’s the First Order. They’ve come for me.”

“They can’t have you,” she told him firmly. She opened up the comment channel. “Finn, take Poe and C-3PO in the flyer. Take them down into the gorge and lead them away from the civilians. I’ll be there to get you out.”

“Copy.”

* * *

“They were only scouts,” Ben informed her when the returned to the Falcon. “They want to cause panic. Panic turns to chaos. Chaos leads to opportunities.”

He’d helped Rey pick off dozens of Stormtroopers on speeders from the high ground. It wasn’t the numbers she’d expected and he agreed. They’d told Jannah to start evacuating.

Rey offered up the Falcon, knowing it could transport at least forty people off the planet. She raced around the ship, tucking away supplies and making room for passengers.

“They’ll be looking for my ship,” Ben continued as he trailed behind her. “You’ll be safe if you leave now.”

Rey paused, his meaning sinking in. She whipped around. “No. I’m not leaving without you. It was a mistake last time. Don’t ask me to repeat it.”

“Rey—.”

“Ben.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. It was a gesture reminiscent of his father and Rey found herself blinking away a tear. “It will be tight in the TIE,” he relented quietly.

“I promise not to wreck her,” she replied, rising to her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. Then, she darted off to finish the preparations.

“You’re not piloting my ship!”

She laughed and continued to ignore him.

* * *

The evacuation wasn’t without its fatalities. Several members of Jannah’s tribe and the Resistance were gunned down. C-3PO was captured. Snap Wexley was shot out of the sky protecting Jannah’s escape from the cavern, which promoted Poe to go after the gunner responsible for his friend’s death. He took out the First Order assailant at the cost of his own life.

Those that remained sat silently mourning on the Falcon where Chewie had navigated them. For now, it served as their base while they hid out on Kuna’s Tail.

The former Rebel Alliance base had once been part of the Stardust unit where the Rebels had prepared to attack the second Death Star. The base had since been destroyed, leaving the Falcon as the only safe shelter for the time being.

Rey walked around with Rose and Kaydel, passing out water and rations. There were a few murmured words of gratitude but the majority remained quiet, their eyes unfocused and shining with unshed tears.

In the rear corner, Ben sat, hands clasped together, forearms braced on his thighs as he hunched over in a vain attempt to make himself smaller. 

As she handed out the last of her supplies, Rey moved towards him. She could feel the waves of self-loathing rolling off of him, shrouding him in darkness.

Before she could reach him, Finn stepped in between them.

Rey met her friend with a sad smile. “I’m sorry about Poe.”

“After losing Paige, each time he saw one of his squad go down, he blamed himself but he and Snap were friends a long time,” Finn told her. “Longer than anyone else.” 

“Without him, we wouldn’t have gotten these people out,” Rey pointed out. “He saved dozens of innocent lives. Leia would have been proud.”

“Yeah,” Finn agreed, starting to smile. “She would have called him an idiot flyboy and patted him on the back.”

“She would have.” Rey nodded. 

They lapsed into silence, each remembering their friend.

When Finn spoke, Rey didn’t expect it to be with such understanding. “He’s changed,” Finn observed as he gazed over his shoulder at Ben. 

“I gave him a chance to be the man he always was,” she commented.

Finn stared at her as he came to terms with what she meant. He scratched the back of his neck, nervously. “Guess this means I have to forgive him for Starkiller, huh?”

“You don’t have to,” Rey replied. 

“I do,” he said with a sigh, “because if he’s going to be in your life, he’s going to be in mine.”

“He’s going to be in my life,” Rey confirmed.

“Then I need to put my reservations where they belong,” Finn remarked. “In the past.”

“Thank you,” Rey whispered as she hugged him. 

“Just do me a favor, yeah?” Finn requested, releasing her.

“What?”

“Make sure he knows how you feel,” Finn stated. “Don’t wait until you both nearly die.”

“Speaking from personal experience?” she questioned with a laugh.

“You know it.” He winked. Then, with another glance at Ben, he cleared his throat. “Tell him. There will be more days like today before this is all over. Don’t wait.”

“Thanks, Finn.”

Rey walked over to Ben, taking his hand. “Come with me.”

She led him to her bunk, closing the door behind them. Rey took a seat on the bed, patting the space beside her. Ben sunk down, the bed shifting under his weight. 

“If you hadn’t come to warn us, a lot more people would have died,” she started, feeling his sorrow across the bond.

“If I had come with you when you asked maybe I could have saved more,” he argued.

“Ben.”

“I know they wished it would have been me instead of the pilot,” he declared. “I can hear their thoughts. Same as you.”

“They don’t know you,” she persisted, taking his hand between both of hers.

“And you do?” he questioned. She quirked a brow at him, unflinching as she stared him down. Slowly, he smirked. “Ah, you do.”

“Of course, I do. I love you.”

He stilled, every muscle in his body tensing. “W-What?”

“I love you, Ben.” Rey cupped his face in both her hands and kissed him.

For a moment, he didn’t respond, frozen in shock. Then his hands were everywhere, grabbing and searching while his lips found hers again and again.

The captain’s bunk remained locked until morning.

* * *

_Save him. _

Rey woke to the sound of the voice, a phantom calling her in the night. Searching the dimly lit cabin, she found nothing. Nothing besides the man slumbering next to her.

_ Save him. _

“Who’s there?”

No reply came.

Furrowing her brow, Rey sat up. Another scan of the captain’s quarters resulted in the same answer. The room was empty except for them.

The Force prickled around her. Rey placed a kiss to Ben’s forehead. She rose from the bed, slipping into her clothes as quickly as possible. Quietly, she exited the cabin, taking her lightsaber with her.

Carefully, she danced around the sleeping bodies on the Falcon, so as not to step on anyone. Rey pulled her hood up and stepped out into the cold night.

A brisk wind cut through her armbands like a blade. It swept around her, howling so loudly in her ears that she almost didn’t hear the voice.

_ Save him. _

Rey closed her eyes, reaching out not with her senses but with the Force to find the source of the call. It was off-world but it was close.

_ Save him. Save him. Save him_. It chanted relentlessly, growing louder each time.

She stomped through the underbrush towards Ben’s TIE. Mechanically, she loaded herself into the cockpit and prepared the craft for take-off. By the time she hit atmo, the voice was all she heard.

Rey felt it drawing her in. She recognized the sensation as the same power the cave in Ahch-To held over her. Yet, she couldn’t find it in her to resist, not if it meant keeping Ben safe. She wouldn’t let him fall.

The TIE landed on Din Pulsar, a desolate wasteland of icy seas and forgotten metal. As a former supernova, the star’s magnetic field caused it to pull in wreckage from space, culminating in a ship graveyard.

_ You must come to me. Come to me to save him. _

She left the TIE in the ice, stalking forth towards the owner of the voice. Guided by the Force, she went toward the largest of the wrecks, a crescent-shaped arch of metal. As she came over the hillside, Rey saw the water. The wreck was half-submerged in the lake, yards ahead of her.

Steadying her nerves, Rey prepared herself to cross.

It was like a game, finding shipwrecks in the lake to use as stepping stones. It reminded Rey of how she used to time herself while salvaging in the hills of forgotten crafts on Jakku. If she made it fun, the day went faster and the task seemed less daunting.

The same could be said for this.

She leaped from an old X-wing to half a Star Destroyer and slid. Grabbing a wide antenna, she swung herself to an indentation, using it as a foothold to get her back up.

“Rey!”

She turned to find Ben stalking towards her, his blazing red saber lit up.

“Rey, stop!”

“No,” she hissed. “I have to do this.”

“You don’t,” he shouted over the crashing waves and the bellowing wind. “He is in your head. Can’t you feel it? What you feel — the danger, the panic — that’s not you. It isn’t real.”

“It is!”

“It’s not. Don’t be a fool. You’re stronger than this. You can beat him,” he urged. “Push him out the way you pushed me out. Don’t let him control you.”

“No one controls me!”

“Rey, this is a Force nexus. A dark one,” he yelled over the shrieking wind. A wave doused them in a fine spray. “He’s been here for years. Can’t you feel the dark energy?”

She reached out, recognizing the seductive signature of the Dark Side. It was potent heavy with promise and lies. She shook her head, attempting to ground herself but the dark swept in.

“He’s the cause of all of this,” she screamed. “He means to kill you. I have to end it.”

“Rey!”

Ben moved to stop her. Instinct took over and she swung her blade. It crashed against his, blue and red meeting for the first time since the forest.

She’d been young then, inexperienced, naive. She was that girl no more. Rey shifted on her heel and aimed to strike.

He parried her blade, using his strength to force her backward. Rey side-stepped, not allowing him to throw her off balance.

_ Balance. _

_ Life. Death and decay, that feeds new life. _

_ Warmth. _

_ Cold. _

_ Peace. _

_ Violence. _

Her eyes flashed open, seeing Ben’s face lit up by the contrasting colors of their blades.

_ Give yourself to me, young Rey. It is the only way you can save him now. _

“No.”

_ So be it... _

The voice left her mind, retracting its poisonous claws from her.

She sheathed her saber, barely missing Ben’s blade as she collapsed to her knees.

“Rey!”

He scooped her up, carrying her as he had the day they’d met. She buried her face in his chest, body reeling from the after-effects of Palpatine’s manipulation.

“Stay with me,” Ben whispered into her hair. “We’re almost there.”

* * *

The interior of the Death Star was thick with dark energy. Rey resisted the urge to reach for her sand-mask. No filtering technology would prevent her from choking on the dark power that lived here.

Ben positioned himself in front of her. “Follow my lead,” he instructed.

She nodded, keeping alert for any sudden movements.

“Come closer,” a raspy voice encouraged with a cackle. “Closer so I may see whom the Force deems worthy.”

They found Darth Sidious seated by a shattered window overlooking the stormy waters below.

“The Prince and the Scavenger,” he titled them mockingly. “How quaint. Sounds like a children’s tale.”

“How are you alive?” Ben inquired.

“I am the most powerful Force user the galaxy has ever seen. Death can not stop me,” the decaying man sneered.

“Ben Solo is the most powerful Force user in the galaxy,” Rey declared.

He made a humming sound. “We shall see.”

Lightning shot from his fingertips, striking Ben in the chest. He doubled over as Palpatine laughed. Rey screamed and dove for him, swinging her blade like an executioner’s ax.

“Don’t insult me, girl,” he snarled, flicking his wrist. She went flying into the nearest wall.

Between gasps for breath, Ben called to her. Rey clenched her jaw, filling with rage.

“Yes, yes that’s it,” her advisory coaxed.

She retrieved her lightsaber and prepared to lunge at the old man.

“Rey!”

She halted mere inches away from a gaping hole in the floor.

Palpatine fixed his yellow eyes on Ben. His smirk vanished. “Silence, young Solo. You will have your turn.” He shot another bolt at Ben, this one strong enough to rip the air from his lungs.

“Ben!”

The next lightning bolt went to her. Pain pulsed through her, starting in her core and branching out to each nerve ending. It seared and burned until it stopped, leaving her panting for breath.

Darth Sidious tutted. “Such a disappointment.”

Rey gazed at Ben across the room. His eyes locked on hers.

_ Together? _

_ Together. _

They rose simultaneously, preparing their weapons and charging as one. They aimed, swung, and—

— went ricocheting to the floor.

“It’s time for the last Skywalker to meet his end,” Palpatine decreed.

Ben was confined to the floor, held down by the Darksider’s power, the way the magnetic surface of the planet trapped metal.

“Rey,” He beckoned her with a single knobby, bone-white digit. “Approach, dear child.” 

She proceeded cautiously. “All these years, I focused on corrupting my apprentice’s heir. I failed to consider the most powerful Force user would be born of my blood. You, darling girl, you are worth more than Vader and far more than this wretch.” 

“I’m not yours,” she hissed.

“You’ve never wondered where your powers come from? How you beat the great Kylo Ren in battle?” he queried with a knowing grin.

Rey glanced over her shoulder at Ben in disbelief. He mouthed ‘no’ and shook his head, but the seed of doubt was planted. She took another step closer to Palpatine.

“Alone to fend for yourself because I was withering away in this forgotten land,” the old man told her. “But the Force brought you to me. It knows what you seek. It knows what you need. As do I.”

“What is that?” she asked.

“A family.”

Rey could see it. There was an endless field of luscious grass dancing in the breeze. Above was a cloudless sky, perfectly blue and serene, as if it had been painted to accentuate the green beneath it. There was laughter from a pair of children, innocent and care-free as they raced each other through the field. 

“Mama,” they called, reaching for her as they ran.

She held out her hands. Just as their fingertips touched, Rey was yanked out of the vision.

A gasp escaped her lips and she blinked to clear her eyes.

“See what you could have? It’s within your power. You need only cut down your enemy and take it,” Palpatine commanded.

Rey swallowed, turning her attention to Ben. His eyes widened from where he remained confined to the floor.

“I know what I have to do.” She ignited her saber.

“Yes,” Palpatine preened.

“Rey, whatever he showed you isn’t true. I told you the truth about your parents. I’ve never lied to you. I—.”

“Silence!” Palpatine snarled. With a snap of his fingers, Ben lost the ability to speak.

She raised her blade, took a deep breath, and threw her weapon. The lightsaber rotated on its axis, like a boomerang, slicing through the air directly above Ben Solo’s head before whipping around behind Rey. It cut through Palpatine’s head, severing him in two. He slumped over and fell to the floor with a thud.

The nexus shuddered, its source of dark energy vanquished. 

Ben straightened up and moved to Rey’s side. “I’d like to see him come back from that,” she snarked.

* * *

Ben was a man of his word. He killed Hux and his action proved to be the catalyst the Resistance needed to get the First Order to surrender.

The New Republic was reassembled. Kaydel, Rose, Finn, and Jannah were asked to join as representatives of the new galaxy. Finn and Rose accepted, taking up residence in the Core. Kaydel joined them but Jannah returned to her homeland, along with the surviving members of her tribe. 

Rey and Ben were asked as well. Like Jannah, they declined the offer.

“What will you do?” Finn asked when he came to see them off. 

“Find our place in this new world,” Rey answered.

“Can’t imagine Chewie’s too happy you're taking the Falcon,” Rose remarked with a smile.

“He understands,” Ben replied. “Besides, he and Lando are getting into enough trouble trying to reboot C-3PO. Apparently, they can’t remember how they did it thirty years ago. There was a lot of whiskey involved.”

The four laughed then lapsed into silence.

“We should be off,” Rey told her friends.

“Just promise me you won’t go back to Jakku,” Finn teased as he hugged her. 

“There’s nothing for me there,” she told him, staring up at Ben. “I found where I belong.”

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Reyloween, Buni!


End file.
